TBIF – Thank blog it’s Friday! #3

Today’s
question: LT and RL (real life)- do you have friends in real life that
you met through LibraryThing? Have you attended any LT meet-ups in your
area? Would you be open to attending meet-ups or is LT strictly an
online thing for you?

Interesting question, given that the online/RL intersection has been a bit of a theme around here this week!

So far, I haven’t met anyone through
LibraryThing; all of my LT connections are people that I’ve met
elsewhere online, and connected with after learning they were on LT
too. However, they are all friends from the online
portion of my life. Most of my RL friends that are keeping their books
online are using GoodReads. I have a shelf there too, and my friends
there are a mix of online and off-line.

I’m
not active in the forums or otherwise very involved with the social
side of LT, so I’m lukewarm at best about the idea of attending local
meet-ups. My interest in face-to-face meetings with people I’ve met
online doesn’t tend to develop until we’ve had a fair amount of
one-to-one communication, and for me, that’s happening much more
through blogging.

If you haven’t yet
weighed in on your experiences with RL/online overlap on one of the
related posts earlier this week, please go ahead now!

Share with us two (2) “teaser” sentences from that page, somewhere between lines 7 and 12.

You also need to share the title of the book that you’re getting your “teaser” from … that way people can have some great book recommendations if they like the teaser you’ve given!

Please avoid spoilers!

My teasers don’t usually come from what I’m currently
reading, since I tend to get a little ahead of myself. (I’m currently
reading Matrimony by Joshua Henkin, and I gave a teaser from that book three weeks ago.)
Instead, I like to pique my own curiosity – and maybe yours too – about
a newly-acquired book or two, or some random selection from TBR
Purgatory.

Blaine
hadn’t given Josh a single bit of trouble since the first night of
babysitting; he was resolutely well-behaved, as though he were afraid
that if he did something wrong, Josh would leave and never come back.
Most days, Josh took the kids to the town beach right there in ‘Sconset
and sat in the shadow of the lifeguard stand (at Vicki’s insistence). – from Barefoot: A Novel (paperback)Claire was shaking from anger, frustration, guilt, nerves. “Forget it,” she said. “I won’t go. Give me the baby.” – from A Summer Affair: A Novel (hardcover)

Your turn – give us a taste of what you’re currently reading, or planning to read soon.

Whether you usually read off of your own book pile or from the
library shelves NOW, chances are you started off with trips to the
library. (There’s no way my parents could otherwise have kept up with
my book habit when I was 10.) So … What is your earliest memory of a library? Who took you? Do you have you any funny/odd memories of the library?

Don’t forget to leave a link to your actual response (so people don’t have to go searching for it) in the comments—or if you prefer, leave your answers in the comments themselves!

Some
of my best childhood memories involve trips to the library, although
since I really don’t remember much before I started kindergarten, I’m
not sure whether I discovered my elementary school’s library or the
public library first. I do recall liking the public library much better, though, because it had so much more than
our school library did. By the time I was about halfway through my
years at Broad River School, I was often disappointed by its relatively
small collection, and there were times I would voluntarily leave
empty-handed, because I just couldn’t find anything appealing. On the
other hand, my mother took my sister and me to one of the two branches
of the Norwalk Public Library nearly every week, and those trips were always something I looked forward to.

In
those years, both branches were located in historic Carnegie library
buildings, and they’ve shaped my perception of what a library should
look like, both inside and out. While working on this post, I read a
little about the library’s history on its website, and learned that the
children’s rooms of both branches had been the result of basement
remodeling during the 1960’s – what luck, just a few years before I
would arrive on the scene to use them!

My
earliest library memories involve its summer reading program; you
received a sticker to put on a paper chart (designed like a “bookworm”)
for each book you finished. I don’t recall it taking very long to
complete the chart. I also remember being pretty pleased with myself
because I usually got my books from the shelves designated for readers
a couple of grade levels ahead of me. I don’t remember doing much reading at the library, but my mom never rushed us through picking out books to take home.

Trips
to the library were regular family outings for many years. Even in my
teens, I remember spending many Saturday afternoons there (although by
then it was a different city, and a different library),
both for school assignments and just for fun. While I’ve mentioned
elsewhere that I’m not much of a library user any more, and haven’t
been for quite a few years, those summer-reading programs clearly made
an impression on my sister; her boys participate in them at our local library.

1. Dancing to the music on the radio while driving makes me think I probably look pretty silly to the other drivers(but they’re supposed to be watching the road and not me anyway!).

2. The last time I went to the bookstore I nearly walked out empty-handed (but I found a couple of books for my husband, so crisis averted!).

3. When I drive I prefer to be alone in the car (even though I really should be more enthusiastic about carpooling).

4. I saw her standing there(and so did he – so how could he dance with another?).

5. Give me money, give me time, give me some more money.

6. Next week I am looking forward to the three-day weekend that starts at the end of it!

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I’m looking forward to relaxing with my husband at home, tomorrow my plans include not much other than grocery shopping and Sunday, I want to read, write, and relax some more! (We actually don’t have much planned this weekend, and that’s just fine with me – the last couple have been pretty busy.)

I’m sure your weekend plans must be more exciting than mine! Have a good one.

Subscribe to Blog via Email

“The accusation made me realize, though, that I was carrying some pretty haute eats for a Midwestern traveling man. I explained to Mrs. Infeld that my picnic had been gathered partly by my wife, an Eastern sophisticate who knew that arugala was not a folk dance and could poach a salmon in some secret way that made it taste as good as barbecued ribs.”

from Alice, Let’s Eat by Calvin Trillin

Second, I have the most lovely memories of the library in my town! I remember it as a cool haven in the summertime, where I could go in and lose myself among the delicious smell of all those books! It’s a small brick building, with beautiful stained glass windows (still there, but no longer used as the library).

Finally, your answer to #4 made me sing to myself (ooh!). And thanks for reminding me there’s a three day weekend coming up! Yessssah!

Janet – You’ve always got an interesting book teaser to share. I enjoy food writing, so I may need to look for that book.

And I thought my answer to #4 was way too obvious and unimaginative, but I’m a Beatles fan and couldn’t help myself :-)!

Daisy – Those older Carnegie libraries did (do? don’t know how many of them are still in full-time use as libraries) have accessibility issues, but they had architectural appeal some of the newer ones don’t. I wonder if that’s another reason I don’t go to libraries much anymore?

LOL! I said basically the same thing for #2! We don’t have much planned for this weekend either which is ok with me. I’m just biding my time until the weather cools so we can get out and enjoy taking pictures again on the weekends. BTW, I tagged you for the 123 meme but no worries if you’d rather not, now that you’re doing the Teaser Tuesdays.

We had a small library in our grade school, but just up the street was the main town library. We use to walk there once in a while to get a wider selection. We didn’t go to the library much as a family, nobody else really liked to read. I usually got books from our tiny school library, or would ride my bike to the bigger one.

Unfortunately for me, this weekend means my vacation is over. So sad….

I have fond memories of Thursday night trips to the library with my dad. I’m a little mad at myself that I don’t do that with the girls. In my defense, though, the girls have a lot more homework to do than I did! These days, I just don’t know how to find the time. They get their books from their school libraries instead.

April – Time is probably the biggest reason I don’t use the library more now – the hours don’t mesh well with mine, and then there are those pesky due dates for returning the books… But that’s also a reason my son didn’t get the library experience quite as much while he was growing up either, and I do feel a little bit bad about that.

You make mention that your interest lies in wanting to meet people in person that you’ve met online if you’ve had ongoing interaction with them, which is something that is true for me too. I have met a few bloggers through LT, but it wasn’t on LT that I have gotten to know them better–it’s been through their blogs, like you suggest. If I did attend a LT meet-up, I would prefer it to be with those I have had some interaction with.

Summer reading programs were a big part of my childhood too. It was an expensive summer activity and it got my brother and I out of my mother’s hair for a short while. 🙂

I prefer to be alone in the car too. If you aren’t alone, you can’t sing along to the radio after all.

Literary Feline – Most of my social-networking contacts (including LT) are people that I’ve gotten to know via blogging. There’s just more substance to the communication there than what happens on Facebook, Twitter, etc. (although I like them too).

Singing is one reason I prefer having the car to myself too! My boss recently moved out here and he’s been wanting to carpool; we’ve done it a few times, but some schedule shuffling at work means it’s not going to be an option any more. I like my boss, but I’m not all that sorry the carpool thing has fallen through.

Lenore – Can’t blame you for that :-). And although I didn’t consider us “strangers” by the time we first met in person, I did consider it prudent to make my first face-to-face meeting with the guy who eventually became my second husband over lunch at a mall.

referral links, from me to you!

something for us both: a new product or service for you, credit for me!